Uptown Cafe's Galen Cassady talks Outdoor Dining Program
(Courtesy, Zoom)
As the city council considers changes to Bloomington’s outdoor dining program, one downtown Bloomington restaurant owner believes the program has room to improve.
Galen Cassady, co-owner of Uptown Café, said the program has been a significant success for his business, but waiting to find out if the city will fully close Kirkwood Avenue each year impacts his ability to plan ahead.
The Bloomington City Council is considering potential changes to the program, including one that would extend the program for about three years instead of raising the issue yearly.
“Ideally, we know going into the new year what we’re going to be doing because for the restaurants and businesses, we have to invest a lot and really do a lot of planning to make sure we can set this up in a way that is effective and also looks nice,” Cassady said. “So, we need that time.”
The city council will also discuss either completely closing Kirkwood Avenue for the program or using select parking spaces for outdoor dining.
Cassady prefers a complete closure based on customer feedback and business metrics.
“Again, just personally, ours is in a very sloped area,” he said. “So we have to heavily modify that parking space if we want to use it, which is not cost effective.”
Accessibility is also an obstacle for some visitors, but Cassady believes there are potential solutions to that problem as well.
The city council will discuss the latest Outdoor Dining Program ordinance Wednesday night.
The Outdoor Dining Program began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has returned each year, with the approval of the Bloomington City Council. The city has debated extending the program over the last year. The latest ordinance received first reading Jan. 9.
According to Jane Kupersmith, director of Bloomington’s Economic and Sustainable Development, the proposed ordinance seeks to install “parklets”, also referred to as “streateries.” These are parking spaces to be used as additional dining space as opposed to closing the entire street. The proposed ordinance would extend the Outdoor Dining Program through 2028.
